Compatibly Yours Forever
by DiamondintheDark
Summary: She's Katie Gardner. He's Travis Stoll. There's absolutely no way in Hades that the two of them would ever be compatible. She looked at him sadly. "You're too young to know what love really means, Travis."


_"Better never to have met you in my dream than to wake and reach for hands that are not there."_

_~Otomo No Yakamochi_

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><p>This had to stop, she decided. It had to stop, before they got themselves hurt. She's Katie Gardner. He's Travis Stoll. There's absolutely no way in Hades that the two of them would ever be compatible.<p>

"Katie, wait!" he pleaded, running after her retreating figure.

She walked briskly, brushing the tears out of the corners of her eyes. _I can do this,_ she told herself_. I can do this._

"Katie!" by now she was going by the infamous pine tree of Thalia Grace. He was really starting to regret racing with her against the tree nymphs. Stupid nymphs- don't tell Juniper that. Didn't they have better things to do than run away from dashing, handsome strangers like Travis? Why'd they have to be so _fast_?

_Shut up, Travis_, she thought. _Shut up and leave me alone_. She couldn't let him see her falling tears. She doesn't _cry_. She doesn't cry for _anyone_.

Travis pumped his legs faster, sprinting. Within a few quick seconds he caught up to her and grabbed her arm. She whirled around, on instinct, and neatly smashed her fist into his eye.

"Ow_! Gods_, Katie, what was that for?" he cried, putting his hand over his eye.

Katie didn't register that she had just punched her boyfriend in the eye. "What was that for, Travis? That was for everything! Everything that we've been through! You think you know me, and you don't! Just leave me alone!"

"C'mon, Katie, what's wrong? Is it your time-" swiftly he dodged another swing directed at his skull.

"It's not my time of month you idiot!" she yelled at him, tears leaking out of her eyes. She didn't bother to wipe it off. His eyes widened. Sure, they yelled and fought all the time, and he'd always be running after her, but never had she _cried_.

"Katie," he said softly, forgetting about his eye. "What's wrong?"

Katie stared at him, at his face, tenderly searching hers as well. She'd never find another guy like him, like Travis Stoll. And that is, well, much to say. His face dropped, an alarmed look overtaking his features.

"Gods, was it something I did?" he panicked, thinking about the conversations they'd had 24 hours prior. He couldn't figure out what was wrong.

She shook her head and looked down for a minute. Her heart was breaking, bit by bit. "It's not you, Trav. It's… me. Us."

He frowned. There was something in her tone that immediately got him worried. "What- what are you talking about?"

She looked at him sadly. "Travis, we're only 17."

"What's… wrong with that?" he didn't like how she said 'only'.

Katie sighed, and brushed a clump of her bangs away. The cool wind blew and messed it up again, but she didn't care. Above, the sky was gray and cloudy. It seemed as if Zeus knew. It seemed as if Zeus knew what she was going to do, and shared the same feelings.

"We're only 17, Trav. We've, well, never really experience the outside much. The outside world. All of our experiences have been because of a battle, not because we really wanted to go out there, like normal teenagers."

"But we're not normal, Katie. We're half god." He whispered, the sadness shining in his eyes. He hated this. He hated it whenever his girlfriend was sad. This time, though, he couldn't figure out why.

She nodded weakly, like as if she wasn't really paying much attention to him. "I… I know. But we're still human. At least, that half part of us. And… as humans, we should still do some things that other kids our age do. I mean, like, I don't know, go to the beach or something?" Travis was about to point out that Camp Half-Blood had a beach when she continued.

"What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that we haven't really been much like other boyfriends and girlfriends living in the mortal world. We're just two best friends, who, after a long time, decided to try dating. Yea, it's- it's been fun and all, and-"

"Stop." Travis' voice interrupted hers, strong and piercing. "Katie, _stop._"

She shook her head. "What you said to me, last week-"

"I love you? I really do, Katie. I really, truly do love you." There was no playful joking tone in his voice like he usually did.

"But we're only 17, Travis! We're too young! We're too young to know- know what love really is! You say that you love me, but how do you _know_?" her voice broke on the last word, her throat choking up. She looked at him sadly.

"How do I know? Gods, Katie! I know I'm in love with you! How am I supposed to explain that? Whenever I see you, I forget about everything. Whenever I'm with you, all I know is you. You make me forget every single flaw of mine, of every bad thing I've done! You make me happy! Ask any person of my cabin- these past 10 months have been the best months of my life! For once, I felt like I actually mattered to someone, not just Connor! I love everything about you- your hair, your eyes, the way you move around when you're planting whatever in Hades it is strawberries, the way you laugh, smile, say my name, whatever! I love the way our hands fit together perfectly, the way how you always have a double meaning whenever we fight! When we fought against Kronos and his cronies, I panicked every time I had to see you in battle! Whenever some idiot talks to you, I feel like ripping his face off. He doesn't deserve you, Katie! You're too… perfectly flawed! I don't know why I love you, 'cause I just do! If something were to ever happen, the first thing in my mind is you! I love you, Katie Gardner, I just do!" Travis yelled, breathing heavily. He never yelled at someone for so long. His face colored a bit.

Katie had her hand wrapped around her mouth. Her head was shaking as she wept. _Stop_, her eyes were pleading him. _Stop now!_

An awkward silence filled the air as she cried and he panted, both daring the other to make the first sound.

"You're too young, Trav. You don't know what love really is." She said so quietly Travis almost couldn't hear it. Terror gripped at his heart.

"No," he said. "No, no, no, no, no. Katie-"

She refused to look at him. "Goodbye, Travis."

She turned around and walked away. Travis couldn't believe it.

"No," he muttered. _This can't be happening_.

In a last minute effort, he called her once more. "Katie! Please!"

She froze. "You… you said 'please.'"

He nodded feverishly. "I did, and I will again. Please, Katie, come back. I love you."

She shook her head. "We don't love each other, Travis. We just think we do."

"No- Katie-"

"Bye Trav."

And just like that, he

watched her form disappear over the hill, getting smaller and smaller. She was walking out of his life. Just like that.

For the first time in his life, Travis Stoll cried as his heart broke.

For the first time in her life, Katie Gardner cried as her heart broke.

For years to come, her voice would haunt them both, coldly flirting with them.

"_We're too young to really know- know what love really is."_

For years to come, neither of them ever would see the other again, and they would never pursue another romantic relationship with anybody. They were too stubborn to admit their wrongdoings- their fatal flaw.

It was explained in the _Sea of Monsters_ by Annabeth that a hero's fatal flaw could kill the hero. While both Travis and Katie never got killed by a monster because of their fatal flaw, their fatal flaw killed them emotionally, bit by bit until it was to the point where no one really knew either of them. Their pride drove a wedge between the two former best friends/exes, and when people gather at their funerals, the same message would be shared between the two:

_Here lies Travis Stoll, Son of Hermes. He is wished to find the happiness in Elysium, for in this life, he was only happy with his true love, the Daughter of Demeter._

_Here lies Katie Gardner, Daughter of Demeter. Wishes are given to her in order for her to find the joy she so deserves in Elysium, the joy that is her true love, the Son of Hermes._

FIN.

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><p><strong>I decided to try my hand at TravisKatie, finally. I tried to really capture a tender moment between the two, both trying to reach for something they can't get. **

**Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Let me know! CC is appreciated. **

**P.S. any Sally J./Poseidon fans out there? Check out my story, _Dear Poseidon_. I highly recommend it. :)**

**Thx!**

**DiamondintheDark**


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